Art Fierro, El Paso's new state representative, won a special election to replace former longtime state Rep. Joe Pickett. Fierro, chairman of the El Paso Community College board of trustees, replaces Pickett, who held the seat since 1995 and stepped down to deal with cancer-related health issues.(Photo11: Mark Lambie/El Paso Times)

AUSTIN — When Art Fierro arrives at the Texas Capitol later this month, it's unclear whether he will have hired a legislative staff or have an office waiting for him.

"I might have to put up a sign at Starbucks," Fierro said with a laugh.

The Democrat won a special election on Tuesday to become the next state representative from House District 79 in El Paso, which includes parts of the East Side and Northeast El Paso.

Election officials are canvassing the district to finalize the results and allow Fierro to be sworn into office on Feb. 11.

"It was like, when can we do it, how fast can we do it?" Fierro said of scheduling a date for his oath of office. "I'm ready to go. Not only am I ready to go, I think my constituents are ready for us to go."

The district has not had a representative at the statehouse since early January, when Rep. Joe Pickett announced that he would step down, ending his 24-year stint as the district's representative and the longest serving member of El Paso's legislative delegation.

His departure spurred a special election, which pit Fierro against Democrat Michiel Noe, a former City Council representative, and Republican Hans Sassenfeld, a retired engineer. Fierro won with 53 percent of the 4,713 votes cast in the election.

Pickett did not endorse any candidates in the race, but said he thinks Fierro will be a "fine representative."

“I’ve known Art for many, many years,” Pickett said in an interview on Thursday. “I think he’ll be fine. He’s very energetic, I think he did a good job at the community college in his role there.”

Before he can get to work, Fierro has a long list of tasks to complete, which includes resigning from his current position as chairman of the El Paso Community College Board of Trustees.

"There was nothing else that was on my radar, except for January 29," Fierro said. "That was the only thing we were looking for and it wasn't right for me to think about offices or employees. So that's something I'm really running to catch up on."

Since his election, Fierro has also been in and out of meetings with community stakeholders and state leaders. On Wednesday, he met with House Speaker Dennis Bonnen, a Republican from Angleton.

Bonnen announced committee assignments at the end of January, which included appointing the empty House District 79 seat to serve on the House Agriculture and Livestock Committee and the House Elections Committee.

During their meeting, Fierro said Bonnen explained how the committee hierarchy worked at the Capitol and told Fierro he could be active on any committee he wanted, even if he wasn't formally a member.

"That made me feel better," Fierro said. "Although, I'm very proud and honored of the committees that were assigned."

On the elections panel, Fierro said he is anxious to learn more information about the ongoing debate over tens of thousands of people who Texas Secretary of State David Whitley said appeared to have voted over a 22-year period, even though they may not have been U.S. citizens.

Whitley said counties had been asked to review the eligibility of about 95,000 people, prompting outcry from Democrats and voter rights advocates who said the entire effort was evidence of voter suppression.

But Fierro said much of his interest lies in subject areas like education and worker's rights.

He hasn't decided what the first piece of legislation he files will be, but Fierro said he is working on fine-tuning some ideas, including ways to allow employees to donate sick leave to their colleagues, a proposal to have the state reimburse teachers for classroom supplies and how to improve housing access for veterans.

"Those are three bills that I'm trying to define and trying to get ready to put on paper and introduce," Fierro said.

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Art Fierro, El Paso's new State Rep. won a special election to replace long-time Rep. Joe Pickett. Fierro, chairman of the El Paso Community College Board of Trustees, will replace state Rep. Joe Pickett, who has held the seat since 1995 and stepped down to deal with cancer-related health issues.(Photo11: Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)

But he doesn't have much time.

Fierro will join lawmakers at the Capitol with this year's legislative session already underway. Current representatives started filing legislation as early as November of last year and the deadline to file bills is March 8.

When he gets to the Capitol, Fierro has pledged to work alongside the other five members of El Paso's delegation — all of whom endorsed him during the special election.

This pitch was in stark contrast to Pickett's legislating style and drew criticism from Noe, one of his opponents, who said that he would prioritize his district's needs over the delegation and said he wouldn't "lower my standards or ethics or anything just to fit into their clique."

Pickett butt heads with other members of the delegation at the end of the last legislative session when he tried to block $32 million from the budget that was allocated for improvements to El Paso's international bridges, a sum all of the city's other representatives advocated for.

Pickett said if he could offer Fierro advice in his new role, he would urge him to function as an individual.

"My only advice to him would be to be his own person," Pickett said. "It's not for the faint of heart. You make a lot of decisions in 140 days."

Fierro said he sees collaboration with the delegation as a way to be more effective while in office.

"I really want to make sure that I'm doing the best for the community as a whole, that means the world to me," Fierro said. "I want to make sure that when I leave session, El Paso is a better place for it."

Madlin Mekelburg is a reporter with the USA Today Network Austin Bureau; she may be reached at 512-479-6606; mmekelburg@elpasotimes.com; @madlinbmek on Twitter.